After Jairam, Vedanta in a patch-up mode with MoEF

Withdraws petition from green tribunal, makes fresh plea for Lanjigarh project.

Nearly a month after Jairam Ramesh took over as the rural development minister, the Vedanta Group is trying to patch up with the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) to get its projects fast-tracked.

Vedanta Aluminum Ltd (VAL), an associate company of the globally diversified Vedanta Resources Plc, has already made a fresh proposal to obtain environmental clearance for the expansion of its aluminum refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa. It has also withdrawn its case against the MoEF at the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The ministry under Ramesh had cancelled the environmental clearance to Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC). OMC is in agreement with Vedanta Group company Sterlite for mining bauxite at Niyamgiri hills.

OMC’s bauxite mining project falls within the forest land of Kalahandi and Rayagada area of the state, and is part of the Vedanta Group's 6 million tonne per annum aluminium refinery in Lanjigarh.

Vedanta had filed a review petition at the newly set up NGT. In August 2007, VAL had applied for expansion of its refinery capacity from 1 to 6 mtpa and captive power plant from 75 to 300 Mw. Since last year, the company was at loggerheads with the MoEF on issues of expansion of its aluminium refinery and bauxite mining at Niyamgiri.

When contacted, company officials confirmed that Vedanta had withdrawn its petition last week and had also filed a fresh application for expansion of the aluminium refinery.

“All the aspects of the project had already been reviewed. The Supreme Court is also looking into the matter. So we have withdrawn the petition from the National Green Tribunal. Besides, the National Environment Appellate Authority, which was there before the formation of NGT had also reviewed the matter and had held nine hearings on the matter,” an official said.

The move indicates a climate change at the environment ministry after Ramesh's exit. A senior official of the company said Vedanta was now hopeful of getting all the required clearances for the projects.

The state government had moved the Supreme Court against withdrawal of environmental clearance to Sterlite. They alleged that the former minister Ramesh had passed an order just a day before demitting office.

The order "has been passed in an arbitrary manner” and “it is difficult to understand the need and urgency for issuing the order on July 11 to withdraw the clearance itself,” the OMC application said.

The MoEF withdrew the clearance a day before the Cabinet reshuffle, which saw Ramesh moving to the Rural Development Ministry.

The apex court had issued a notice to MoEF yesterday on the plea of OMC challenging its decision to revoke the environmental clearance to Sterlite Industries.